Wire receptacle



April 13 1926.

H. E. MOINEAU WIRE RECEPTACLE Filed Nov. 4. 922

. #wmvrpg 2 f/ectar f/lfa/neau Patented Apr. l3, i926.

- Nrrn Sm HECTOR E. MDINEAU, OF MARLBORO, MASSACHUSETTS.

' Winn nnonr'rnoiun.

Application filed November To all whom mdy concern:

Be it known that I, Hncron E. Morsnao, a citizen of the United States,residing at Marlboro, county of lvliddlcsex, and State of Massachusetts,have invented a certain new and useful Wire Receptacle, o'fwhich thefollowing is aspecification.

This invention is a wire receptacle and while anydesired form of wirereceptacle may be made under the present invention, the invention isparticularly directed to soap dishes, tumbler holders and wire bathroomfixtures, generally, as well as dish drainers, soap shakers and otherwire kitchen utensils.

It has been the practice in making wire receptacles to cut Wires intosuitable lengths, and after bending them into the desired shapes to weldor solder the opposite ends of each wire to some adjacent wire. In allof the prior devices so far as I am aware, I the free ends of the maorit y of the wires of the construction are secured to some other wireof the construction, usually by cross welding, so that sharp jagged endsare left, which are apt to cut the fingers i1"? the-article is handlecarelessly. These ends are frequently more or less protected by dippingthe articles in enamel, so that when the enamel is hardened the wholestructure will be encased within an envelope of enamel. I have found,however, that after a relatively short time the enamel checks ofi of thesharp edges of the wire ends and not only produces a unsightlyappearance but exposes the sharp ends in such manner as to cause injuryto a person handling the article.

\Vith the foregoing considerations in mind, the object of the presentinvention is to provide a wire receptacle constructed from closed wireloops. In other words, a receptacle wherein each component element is inthe form of a closed wire loop so that there are absolutely no free wireends, proecting at any point. I obtain not only a more att activeconstruction, but I am enabled by welding the loops to otheradjacentloops to obtain a much stronger weld than :ould possibly beobtained by welding awire end to another wire. Accordingly, thestructure of the present invention is not only more pleasing inappearance than prior articles, but is more durable and of strongerconstruction.

' The nres'ent receptacle re uires no more wire than prior receptaclesintended for the same By this construction 4, 1922. Serial No. 599,115.

uses, is equally economically manufactured and is a highly superiorarticle.

Another object of the invention is'to pro vide a method whereby the art'al of this invention may be manufactured in practical, economical,efiicient and rapid inanner.

Features of the invention, other than those specified, will be apparentfrom the'hereinafter detailed description and claims, when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one practical en'ibodime'nt of theinvention, but the construction therein showh is to be un derstood asillustrative, only, and not as delining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a soap dish embodying the presentinvention.

Figure 2 shows alength of ordinary wire.

Figure 3 shows a wire of Figure 2 bent pinto the form of a loop andshowing the first step in forming one of the transverse members of thedish shown in Figure 2., Figure 4 shows a larger open loop which is thefirst step of forming the longitudinal stay member; and, v Figure 5shows a larger open loop which Willform the frame of the dish. Themethod of this invention may be practiced to make widely different formsof wire receptacles and the steps of the method will necessarily bevaried somewhat in accordance with the particular article to be made.However, the underlying principle the same for all articles. As thefirst step of the method, wires are cut to suitable lengths. Thereaftereach wire is bent into the form of a loop so that its opposite ends arebrought into end abutting relation. whereupon said ends are securedfirmly together preferably by welding. When this operation-has beencompleted, all of the elements to form the receptacle will be in theform of closed wire loops which will, of course, vary in shape inaccordance with the particular receptacle to be formed. These loops maybe shaped into their finished configurations or certain of them may be"assembled prior to final shaping. The latter course is preferred inmany instances. In accordance with the latter procedure. certain of theloops are welded to certain other loops and thereafter the loops thusassembled are pressed into their finished i l shape and are thereuponpermanently securedto a rigid frame which serves to main tain the entirestructure in rigid, permanent configuration.

lily way of example, the method of manufacturing the soap dish shown. inFigure 1 will be described in detail.

I first cut from a piece of wire a number of wire rods of a suitablelength for forming the transverse elements 1. If all of these transverseelements are the same the length of wire will be the same. It will benoted however that two end transverse elements are provided with legs 2and the wires forming these two elements will necessarily be cut alittle longer. A length of wire suitable for forming the elements 1 asshown in Figure 2 will also be cut. Afte these wires have been cut, theyare next bent into the form of a loop 3, as shown in Figure 3, afterwhich the ends of the wire forming the loop are welded together as toproduce a closed loop. For the making of the soap dish shown in Figure1, four of such loops are made. Two other loops are made insubstantially the same manner for the two end t ansverse elements andthis extra length is to provide material for the formation of the'legs2, which are preferably formed into; the loop at the time of forming andclosing said loop. When these operations are concluded, all of thetransverse elements will have been completed. They may be left in theform of flat loops or their ends may be bent up to form the sides of thereceptacles. I prefer however to leave them fiat and bend them up by asubsequent'operatioii I next form a loop 5 shown in Figure 4 and weldthe ends of this loop to ether as at 6. This loop 5 is to constitute t elongitudinal stay element 7 and-is preferably leit' flat until its endsare bent up by a. sub

sequent operation. As seen in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 5, the loops are ofelongated form and may be of greater or less width between the parallelmembers thereof.

To commence the assembly of the parts, all of the transverse elementsare laid face downward on the male element of a die in desired spacedparallel relation from one another and the longitudinal stay element 7is superimposed on the thus positioned transverse elements so as toextend across all of them, and thereupon said stayelement is welded toeach transverse element at its point of crossing therewith.

fit the conclusion of the welding operation, all of the elements arenext simultaneously operated upon by the female member of a die and allsimultaneously bent into dish shape. In this way, I obtain uniformity ofconfiguration.

The receptacle as thus far described is now in condition to'receive theframe. loop as at 4:, so-

which as shown in Figure 5 is preferably formed from somewhat heavierwire and with its free ends welded together as at 8. The frame loop isso proportioned that it may be associated with the dish form described,so that the opposite ends of all the transverse elements, as well as theop posite ends of the longitudinal stay element will simultaneouslyengage with the under side of the frame loop ,which in Figure l isdesignated by the reference character 9 and to this loop the upturnedends of. all

of the transverse elements and the stay ele ment are welded in suchmanner that the ends of all of the loops will underlie the frame loopand will in nowise project beyond the outer contour of the latter.

It will he noted that the transverse loop as well as the stayloop willpresent a curved surface to the frame loop at the points of contacttherewith and thus produce an ideal condition for welding since smallfillets may be incorporated at this point and a very strong and rigidconstruction will result.

If the receptacle is to be supported on a flat surface, the legs 2provide convenient means for supporting it above said surface, but if itis desired to suspend the receptacle it may be provided with suitablesuspension means. The receptacle shown in Figure 1 is illustrated asprovided with a suspension hook 10 in the form of a closed loop weldedat 11 to the frame loop 9 and bent so as to be readily hooked over theside of a bath tub.

It will be understood that if the dish is to be hung from a nail orcylinder support.

, one or more small rings may be employed ceptacle there is no wire endwhatsoever.-

The ends of the wire of each element are united and every part of theconstruction is formed of endless curves. Accordingly, it

necessarily follows that there could be no rough places, sharp ends orother unevenness which would be unsightly and would be apt to injure thehands of a user. In contradistinction, the receptacle is of an unusuallyneat, pleasing and finished appearance and is strong,rigid 'and durable.

' It will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description of theinvention that many different articles may be efliciently andeconomically manufactured in accordance with this invention and thataccordingly I;

do not limit myself to the specific structure what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A wire receptacle comprising a body portion in the form of a closedframe, and a plurality of loops closed at both ends, opposite ends ofthe loops being upturned and weldedto said body portion.

A. wire receptacle embodying a closed frame loop and a plurality ofindependently formed elongated loops closed at both ends and extendingtransversely of the frame loop and welded to the opposite sides thereof.

A wire receptacle embodying a closed frame loop, a plurality ofindependently formed elongated loops closed at both ends extendingtransversely of the frame loop and welded to the opposite sides thereof,and a loop of elongated form closed at both ends and extendinglongitudinally of the frame loop and welded thereto.

4. A wire receptacle embodying a closed frame loop, a plurality ofindependently formed elongated loops closed at both ends extendingtransversely of the frame loop and welded to the opposite sides thereof,and a loop of elongated form closed at both ends extendinglongitudinally of the frame loop and welded thereto and to each of thetransverse loops.

5. A wire receptacle comprising a wire frame loop and a plurality ofloops formed independently of each other and of the frame loop withtheir ends upturned and welded to the frame loop to form a depressedbody portion, and wires disposed transversely to said loops and securedthereto to brace the same.

6. A wire receptacle embodying a plurality of independently formed loopsclosed at both ends and welded together, portions of which loops areadapted to form the bottom of the receptacle and other portions of theloops are bent upwardly to form the sides of the receptacle.

7. A wire receptacle embodying a plurality of independently formed loopsclosed at both ends and welded together, portions of which loops areadapted to form the bottom of the receptacle and other portions of theloops are bent upwardly to form the sides of the receptacle, and a frameloop closed at both ends and welded to the upturned portions of theother loops.

8. A wire receptacle embodying a frame, and a body portion formed ofclosed loops, each having an upstanding end welded to the frame, saidloops constituting the bottom'and side walls of the receptacle.

9. A soap dish embodying a wire rod bent to form a frame, meansassociated with said frame formonnting it on a firm support, and aplurality of independently formed elongated loops closed at both endsand extending transversely of the frame and welded to the o posite sidesthereof, said loops being bent downwardly between opposite sidesof theframe to form a depressed body.

10. A soap dish embodying a wire rod bent to form a frame, meansassociated with said frame for mounting it on a firm support, and aplurality of independently formed elongated loops closed at both endsand extending transversely of the frame and welded to the opposite sidesthereof,

said loops being bent downwardly between said sides of the frame to formthe bottom and side walls of a depressed body, and means associated withthe ends of the frame and depending therefrom to form the end walls ofsaid depressed body.

In testimony whereof I have signed the foregoing specification.

HECTOR E. MOINEAU.

